


Trick or Treat

by zinke



Series: What We Didn't See [10]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-18
Updated: 2007-05-18
Packaged: 2018-09-17 06:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9309479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinke/pseuds/zinke
Summary: "More processed sugar is the last thing you need right now."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Do you know what always makes me feel better after a crappy week? That's right: Josh and Donna cute-flirting fic. I hope it makes you feel better too, 'cause it sounds like I'm not the only one who wishes they'd never gotten out of bed on Monday morning. So TGIF folks; grab some chocolate, kick back and enjoy.
> 
> Many, many thanks to caz963, wonder-beta extraordinaire for setting me straight and helping me come up with just about every possible synonym for the word 'sack' - and then doing it all over again for the word 'bucket' once I realized my memory just isn't what it used to be.

* * * *

Some day soon I'll make you mine,   
Then I'll have candy all the time.

I want candy, I want candy  
I want candy, I want candy...  
-Bow Wow Wow, I Want Candy

* * * *

“Hey,” Donna said tiredly as she flopped into the seat opposite him and set a colorful, pumpkin-shaped pail on the table between them.

Josh’s eyes darted curiously between her face and the bucket. “What the hell are you doing with that?” 

“Mrs. Santos asked me to pass it around the cabin. Want some?” she asked absently, tilting the container towards him.

“I guess she’s hoping it’ll all be gone by the time we get to Houston and she has to wake up the kids.” he said as he pulled the pumpkin towards him and began to root through its copious contents. “God, what a disaster.”

“Just think; years from now, when you’re sitting in the Chief of Staff’s office, you’ll remember this day and laugh.”

“Speaking of which,” he interjected as he finally settled on a Tootsie Roll and began tugging on the wax-paper wrapper, “any progress on the Leno thing?”

Donna pulled a face and signaled for him to pass the candy. “Not as such, no,” she sighed resignedly.

Tossing the chocolate toffee into his mouth, Josh complied with her unspoken request before giving her a playful smirk. “You know, I remember a time when you assured me you were all about the funny.”

“I must have forgotten to mention that my talents are wasted on sight gags,” she shot back as she set the plastic pumpkin down on the seat beside her and began to rifle through it. “I know I saw a roll of Smarties in here earlier…” she groused quietly to herself.

Josh chuckled softly as he closed his eyes and relaxed back into his seat. For several minutes the only sounds were the hum of the plane’s engine and the occasional rustle of paper as Donna continued to hunt for her favorite sweet. When he eventually pulled open his sandpapery lids, he found her contentedly munching on the pastel candy and watching him affectionately. 

“What?”

“I think this may be the first time in days I’ve seen you making even an attempt to rest.” 

“Hrmph,” he snorted inarticulately, deciding that it wasn’t worth the effort to protest a statement they both knew to be true. Reaching out a hand, he waggled his fingers at the pumpkin while giving Donna an expectant look. But rather than hand it to him as he had hoped, she picked it up and set it at her feet, solidly out of his reach. 

“Hey!” 

Donna merely raised her eyebrows at him as she popped another Smartie into her mouth. “More processed sugar is the last thing you need right now.” 

“And you do?” When she showed no signs of wavering, his incredulous smirk folded into a disapproving frown that might have been convincing were it not for the mischievous twinkle in his eye. “C’mon Donna,” he cajoled, ducking his head beneath the tabletop. “I thought I saw a Reese’s Cup in there and you know they’re my favorite,” he continued as he caught sight of the bucket sitting just beside her left foot. 

Before he had a chance to grab it, however, he was distracted by the tantalizing sight of Donna delicately uncrossing her legs, which gave her the time she needed to hook her ankle firmly around the container and deftly push it even further beneath her seat. “Forget about it, Josh. And get back up here before—”

Donna stopped abruptly and felt a hot flush rise to her cheeks as she realized just what having Josh’s head under the table and practically in her lap might look like to anyone who might happen to pass by. 

Oblivious, Josh’s muffled voice called out, “Before what?” as he refocused his efforts and reached out for the pail, inadvertently brushing her calf with his outstretched fingers as he did so.

Jumping at the contact, Donna yanked her legs back, practically overturning the bucket and startling Josh in the process.

“Ow!”

Josh rubbed the back of his head absently as he pulled himself upright, glancing at her with a sour expression which melted away as soon as he took in her scarlet complexion and obvious discomfiture. A sly smile played at the corner of his mouth as he met her eyes. “Before what, Donna?” 

Her gaze never wavering from his, Donna crunched another Smartie before replying matter-of-factly, “Before you hit your head on the table.”

Josh held her gaze for a long moment, then lowered his eyes as he shifted in his seat and self-consciously cleared his throat. “So, Jon Bon Jovi wants to pitch us a few ideas on volunteerism after the election, assuming the Congressman gets the title bump we’re hoping for.” 

Donna hurriedly gulped down a mouthful of candy and sat bolt upright, her eyes sparkling bright with interest. “Really? That would be—I mean, do you think he’s serious?” 

“One of these days you’re going to have to explain to me what it is with you people and philanthropic rock stars.”   
“We’re not completely partial to rock stars; we like charitable, Oscar-winning actors, too.”   
“Great,” he muttered sourly to himself. 

“Oh,” she teased while giving him an over-exaggerated pout, “are we feeling a little jealous of Jon?”

Momentarily distracted by the breathtaking memories that pout conjured up, it was a few seconds before Josh could muster a suitable reply. “You know he’s over forty, right?”

“So are you.”

“Yeah, but I wear it well.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Besides, we’re living in an enlightened age. Disparate-age relationships aren’t frowned upon the way they were ten, twenty years ago.”

“They aren’t?”

“Just look at Ashton and Demi, Harrison and Calista, Tom and Katie....”

He looked at her blankly for a moment. “Those names mean absolutely nothing to me.”

“Okay then, Annabeth and Leo, for example.”

“Excuse me?”

Donna fought against the amused smile that was threatening to creep across her face as she watched his forehead wrinkle in confusion. “It would seem that Leo and Annabeth are, for lack of a better word, an item.”

Josh blinked. “What?”

“Oh, come on Josh, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed?”

“I’ve been somewhat busy.”

Donna quirked an eyebrow as Josh stared at her in disbelief before throwing his head back against the seat cushions. “What the hell is it about campaigns and...and...”

“Yes?” 

“People becoming ‘items’.”

“I think she’s good for Leo.”

“I’m sure if you asked, any red-blooded male on the planet would agree with you.”

“What does that mean?”

“I think you know exactly what I mean.”

“Leo is not the type of man to have a campaign fling.”

“Because he’s too old?”

“Because he’s a gentleman.”

Josh gave a small shrug. “I can be a gentleman.”

“Sometimes,” she conceded with a coy grin, watching the corners of his mouth twitch as he looked down and reached for the empty Tootsie Roll wrapper lying on the table in front of him. Donna too reached for her discarded candy wrapper, the cellophane crinkling loudly between her fingers as she folded it neatly into a square. Glancing up from her handiwork, she found Josh watching her contemplatively and felt an unexpected spark of electricity dance along the base of her spine. Emboldened by the emotions she could see swirling in the rich brown of his eyes she ventured softly, “You must’ve had your share of campaign flings, Josh.”

He didn’t answer her right away. Then he sniffed and looked down to where his hands were methodically shredding his candy wrapper. “That was a long time ago,” he said quietly, before raising his eyes to meet hers. “I’m a little old for that sort of thing, don’t you think?”

“But Leo isn’t?” 

He flashed that grin, the lopsided one he gave her whenever he’d been teasing her and wanted all to be forgiven—the one they both knew she’d never been able to resist. Automatically, she offered in return the tiny, indulgent smile that let him know she’d let him off the hook. Each lost in their own thoughts, they lapsed into a companionable silence, Josh rolling his neck to get out the kinks, Donna absently trailing her fingers along a seam in her seat’s upholstery. 

Finally, with a heavy sigh, Josh leveled his head to look at her intently. “I don’t really want...that...any more, I guess.”

Feeling the smallest thrill run through her body at the potential implication, she ventured hopefully, “No?”

“Being Campaign Manager doesn’t exactly leave a lot of time for …uh…extra-curricular activities.”

Donna sobered instantly. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

Josh fidgeted slightly in his seat and looked down at the table, where the shredded remains of his Tootsie Roll wrapper now lay. Absently, he pushed the mangled remains into a tidy pile in front of him as he searched for something, anything to say that might alleviate the uneasy silence that had settled between them. “You’d better watch out for Lou, in any case.” Off Donna’s look of confusion he added, “Once she gets over this adolescent rock star crush of hers I don’t think either you or Jon are going to have a chance.” 

“Josh...” she warned, sliding her foot out from beneath her seat and bringing it forward, brushing her calf lightly against his as she did so. “You want another piece of candy?”

Leaning forward he allowed his leg to rest more fully against hers. “I thought you’d decided I shouldn’t have any more.”

“You’ve been a good boy.”

“Seriously, you need to stop calling me that.”

Donna thought for a long moment before grinning wickedly. “Wild Thing?”

“That’ll work,” he replied, his dimples blooming wide at the reference.

“It really won’t.” Ducking beneath the table and out of sight, Donna reemerged a minute later with the candy bucket, and placed it ceremoniously in front of him. “Now take your Resse’s Cup before I change my mind.” 

 

*fin*


End file.
